There were a few things that struck me when watching this ep and a few other things that stood out on re-watch. Though um... fairly random and geeky... *g*

Remember this bit of meta? How much do I love that one of the first things Dean did was give Sam a beer with his food?! Ok - so I know we didn't actually see him give Sam them but I'd be pretty certain he did. We do see him offer Sam another one and that's good enough for me!

I said at the end of that picspam My hope is that we will be able to see them share a drink together again. A real drink. A celebratory drink. A drink that will signal that they are on some sort of road back to brotherhood.

There was certainly a sense of celebration about it and I think this does signal that they are on the road again to brotherhood. \o/ (and yes, I am well aware that there may well be troubles ahead, but at least this feels like a beginning.)

Speaking of being on the road...

I haven't really got an idea why this is significant (or even important) but when the boys are in the Impala for the first time it was filmed from the back seat of the car. As far as I can remember (and I am happy to be corrected on this...) we've never had this before - unless it's from a backseat passengers POV or we need to see what the boys are seeing outside the front windscreen. It's either front-on or from one of the boys' POV's - so usually on the side.

Instead it's as though we are in the back seat, along for the ride.

It had a very distinct feel about it. For me it created an intimacy. I dunno.. did it feel different to anyone else? Maybe I'm being too geeky now..

Another shot that had me excited was this one:

I just adore this overhead shot. It was used a couple of times and I've been wondering about its significance. It's a kind of weird perspective. I wondered if it had something to do with the fact that they are dealing with flying monsters and it gives us a bird's eye (or rather dragon's eye) point of view? Or maybe it was to match the other, interspersed scene where we had the overhead view of the door to purgatory? I'm not sure. I loved it though. That stuff gets me all excited. (Yep - def. geek coming out now.../o\)

Also... loved these couple of moments...

I like the rather weird angle but more importantly I love that the camera stays on the food when Bobby exits the scene. I think this worked so well because later we have this awesome moment...

Oh Bobby! What did you concoct for yourself?

I just love that this subtly highlights Bobby's life a little more. We never see Bobby wallow in his loneliness but little moments like this perhaps show us what Bobby has lost. Idk. It made me laugh out loud and then go..... oh... poor Bobby.

The value of souls

Something else that this episode really brought home to me was the value of souls. Balthazar said "Do you have any idea what souls are worth, what power they hold?". I suspect that this refers more to the soul's value to other supernatural beings but to me the value and power of Sam's soul was enormous to Dean. It certainly has healing powers because I can't recall a time (recently) that Dean seemed so happy and at some sort of peace. And obviously worth a lot to Dean also. To die, once again, for Sam (and his soul) speaks volumes of what it is worth to him.

The boys are each others' home. And it was wonderful to see them at home again.

Speaking of which..

I loved this scene. I liked that we didn't get an angry, overly guilty or angry Sam. He knew why his brother kept it a secret and even thanked him for protecting him. And Dean showed concern but also understanding of why Sam would feel he has to put things right. I loved the maturity they displayed and it felt like progression in their characters.

Love the Impala in the background. This scene had a real sense of "home" about it and that just added to it. Nice touch.

And I LOVE SO MUCH that they now have money. Well, gold.. but they (read.. I) no longer need to fret about their money supply. *g*

And because these are the two faces I have missed recently...

Dewy, soulful Sammy eyes. God, this scene. It was hard to find a shot that captured everything that was going on his Sam's mind. The fact that he was feeling all this stuff and had to keep it under wraps. Awesome.

And Dean's cocky happiness. It feels like ages since we've seen this cocky smirk that used to be a trademark look for him

And of course I had to include this hug. I can't get over Sam's forearms. Practically bursting. I also love that the force of this hug seems to make up for the complete lack of passion we got from episode one. (Thank you Show). I also loved that the last thing Sam probably remembers is seeing Dean beaten to a pulp, Bobby's neck snapped and Cas bursting into flames. No wonder he's full of emotion here.

And because this scene was a crack up I just have to include some classic Jensen faces. I'm not always a fan of the slapstick in the show but this... I just felt Dean needed this and Jensen seemed to be having a ball.

Oh yeah - good pick up. I'm curious about what would make them choose a back seat shot. I just watched that scene and it felt kinda weird there too.

Hee - and yes. I noticed it was raining so yeah, probably out of necessity. In fact, I wondered if the one from the recent ep was like that also. The quality wasn't as good as the rest of the ep (looked like video footage) so I wondered if it was a rush shoot. Like they needed to re-shoot it because of some problem.